"If the war breaks out in one year, then we will have four regular fleet aircraft carriers, one of which is the 18,000-ton aircraft carrier Silesia (its same class ship Bohemia was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea)

.) The other three are Lord Loudoun-class aircraft carriers. They are Lord Loudoun, Austria and Hungary. In terms of battleships, we will have three new battleships, all of which are Joint Force-class battleships, namely Joint Force.

, Prinz Eugen and Tegelhof. There are 4 aviation cruisers in total, namely Aegean, Adriatic, Ionian and Mediterranean. These forces will form the Austro-Hungarian Empire

The backbone of the fleet." Jordi reported respectfully to the Austrian Emperor.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Navy suffered two defeats in the Italian War and one aircraft carrier was sunk, fortunately, another severely damaged aircraft carrier, the Lord Loudoun, survived in the end, demonstrating the power of armored aircraft carriers.

After staying in the dock for 5 months, the battleship rejoined the Austro-Hungarian fleet and continued to serve as the flagship. The other battleship is even more legendary. This battleship is the aviation cruiser Aegean. This unlucky one

In the night battle of Beda, the child was severely beaten by two Italian heavy cruisers and suffered heavy losses. The fierce gunfire even ignited the aviation fuel on the ship. The fire in the hangar got out of control for a while, and many places were burned to the ground. But who

Unexpectedly, under such circumstances, this battleship was finally saved! After being brought to the shipyard, it was repaired and improved for about a year and returned to service. People can't help but admire the luck of this ship!

The Austro-Hungarian Navy has not developed much in recent years. Apart from the Austrian aircraft carrier that was outfitted during the war, only one new fleet aircraft carrier has been started in recent years. The battleships and aviation cruisers have also only increased by 1 each.

Compared with Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a purely land power. They did not have the ability or intention to spend too much energy on the sea. So now the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s maritime power feels a little stretched! Considering maintenance

In terms of maintenance and other conditions, it would be good to ensure that half of the warships can cruise at sea during a long war. In other words, the Austro-Hungarian Empire can maintain a dual-carrier battle group in the Indian Ocean at most.

Although it seems that the current Austro-Hungarian Empire can maintain half the size of the German navy's capital ships. It is indeed true from the perspective of the eyes, but unlike Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire currently has no new aircraft carriers and capital ships on the slipway.

It was built on the ground, but Germany is different. Currently, German shipyards are not idle. After completing the two Europa-class aircraft carriers, the Germans began to prepare for the construction of new aircraft carriers, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not even have plans for new aircraft carriers.

No! In other words, the gap between the two navies is currently at its smallest. As time goes by, the gap between the two sides will become larger and larger. Therefore, the Austro-Hungarian Empire plans to take advantage of this time to make a good deal with the Germans.

"Tell me your views on the future war situation in Iran and your future plans." Ferdinand said.

"Generally speaking, the possibility of the Allied Powers and the Chinese fleet directly intervening in this war is not high. Iran is still too weak compared to Italy. Italy can provide various supplies for the fleets of various countries, and has good military ports and defense facilities.

A relatively powerful air force. Iran does not have these factors. Without bases and strong industrial support, it is impossible for the opponent's fleet to maintain combat effectiveness for a long time."

"As for the British, India can have ports and various supplies for the large fleet to operate for a long time. But unfortunately, the British are very passive this time. They will not risk an all-out war to help Iran. So even if the other side

The scale of the fleet participating in the war will definitely not be large. The only thing we need to worry about is the fleet built by the Allied Powers and China for Iran. The opponent has two aircraft carriers and already has a certain ability to decisively fight at sea." Jordi thought for a moment and said.

.

"You just mentioned the supply problem of the large fleet. This fleet flying the Iranian flag is also quite large. So how to solve their supply problem?" Ferdinand frowned and said.

"How should I put it? The fleet is not very large. The large-scale fleet I am referring to refers to a fleet that is more than one-third the size of the German High Seas Fleet." Jordi wiped his cold sweat and said. "Although the other party has

There are two aircraft carriers, but the number of other battleships is very small. To some extent, it is an unbalanced fleet that focuses on daytime attacks. They do not have battleships to provide reliable night combat capabilities, and they only have 3 cruisers. The destroyers are only enough to maintain fleet air defense and

The minimum standard for anti-submarine warfare is only 5 capital ships. In terms of tonnage, it is just a detachment of the High Seas Fleet."

"When China designed these warships, their range originally exceeded the needs of normal operations in the Indian Ocean. As for the fuel consumption of maintaining such a small fleet, at most three high-speed cruise ships are enough, and we cannot cover the entire Indian Ocean.

Take control. The main task of the German Navy is to attack land targets on the southern coast of Iran. I am afraid that it will not pay too much attention to this fleet at the beginning. After all, although this fleet bears the name of the Iranian Navy, when will it be completed and delivered?

The Iranian navy is not sure, and it is not impossible that the fleet will eventually be taken over by the other side like the Italian navy. After all, they are still outfitting it. It is still uncertain when it will be completed." Jordi replied.

"If this fleet appears at sea, can the Turkish navy destroy it? Can our fleet destroy it?" Ferdinand thought for a while and suddenly said. Attack land targets with the German navy.

It seems to him that it is not very important. After all, relying on the huge numerical advantage of the German aviation force will sooner or later wipe out the Allied aviation power in Iran. But it is different for those aircraft carriers cruising on the sea. Their mobility is too terrible

, the Turkish Navy ultimately failed to destroy the two cruisers of the Italian Navy, and in the end just drove them out of the war zone. If Austria-Hungary can solve this trouble, then it will undoubtedly get a share of the Iranian issue!

"Three Lord Loudoun-class aircraft carriers and at least two aviation cruisers! There are also ocean-going reconnaissance aircraft, submarines and camouflaged reconnaissance ships. With these forces, we can at least ensure that the other party is excluded from the main lines of communication." Holdi.

He frowned and said. The king opposite him was not satisfied with this.

"This means that we need to concentrate the entire fleet to destroy it completely? The opponent only has two medium-sized fleet aircraft carriers. The aircraft carrying capacity is only about 150. And three aircraft carriers and the same number of aviation cruisers combined can

There are about 310 aircraft. Is this requirement too high?" The dissatisfaction in Ferdinand's tone was already very obvious.

"The opponent also has an aviation cruiser, Your Majesty." Jordi reminded the opponent first. "The key to fighting the opponent in the ocean is not the attack phase. It is the search. The mission of the two aviation cruisers is to stay 100km outside the fleet.

Develop a cordon on the left and right, and then send aircraft to search. And try to prevent the opponent's fleet from passing through the cordon to detect the location of our main fleet."

"In the subsequent attack phase, the 270 or so aircraft on our three aircraft carriers can only release about half of them at a time. 120 aircraft seems to be a lot, but considering that the pilots on the two new aircraft carriers are all newcomers,

.And our attack aircraft have not yet started to be updated, so the attack effect will definitely be greatly reduced. If the opponent fully defends and uses British pilots and aircraft, it will be a great threat to our low-speed attack aircraft. If we lose this

If given a chance, considering the flight range of the plane, they may quickly evacuate in the opposite direction. It will be difficult for us to catch up with them. If they escape, the worst outcome for them is to end up in the Allied colonies.

It will be stationed, disarmed, and taken over by Iran's allies."

"So, in order to avoid this situation from happening, we must completely destroy them in the first battle with them. Three aircraft carriers and two aviation cruisers are already the minimum standard. If possible, after determining the opponent's position,

, we'd better follow it secretly first, and then unite the allied fleets to act together." Holdi thought for a while and added. As a member of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, he is one of the few people who doesn't care much about the emperor's face. Holdi

Di's plan is still conservative, to establish an invincible position first, and then find the right opportunity to solve the problem once and for all.

"Okay, that's it for now." Ferdinand did not express his opinion on Jordi's plan. Instead, he signaled that the other party could go down first. But deep down in his heart, he was still very disappointed. But it doesn't matter, except for the navy

In addition, in his opinion, the Austro-Hungarian Army can also be relied on. According to what he said privately, even if the Austro-Hungarian Army returns again, it will always be much stronger than the Turks.

For the navy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not the first priority. But for the army, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which claims to be a first-class army power, must not relax. Especially in the Italian Civil War. The Austro-Hungarian Empire's Northern Front Army

The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire deeply stimulated this ambitious and talented king. After the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also deeply reflected on the failure of this war. After several years of preparation and operation, the Austro-Hungarian Army

Internally, they believe that they already have the capabilities for World War I, and the Iran War will be a touchstone to prove their capabilities. Compared with the more conservative Navy, the Army's plan is more aggressive!

For the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the fiasco in Italy was a double-edged sword. Although the Imperial Army suffered certain losses and was even more embarrassed, it is undeniable that the Austro-Hungarian Empire learned a lot from this fiasco.

Experience and lessons learned, at least they put their position in a correct position and knew what kind of army the Austro-Hungarian Empire should have to be efficient and realistic given the current national strength and constitution.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire knew that its industrial and financial resources simply could not support itself in building a powerful army similar to Germany's. If the pillars of the German Army's strength were powerful armored forces, powerful long-range artillery and a large number of machine guns. Then the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army purchased a limited armored force, a certain number of long-range artillery and a large number of mortars, plus only makeshift infantry equipment.

As a new weapon born in World War I, the tank's status in the army has been significantly improved with the advancement of technology. The fight between tanks on the Italian battlefield made people realize the power of this weapon. , but it is a pity that the Austro-Hungarian Empire has a certain gap with the Armored Corps in terms of technology and financial resources! First of all, talking about technology, it does not mean that the Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot provide powerful artillery and armor. The biggest problem still lies in power. System. The Austro-Hungarian Empire does not have the German Maybach engine. Although they try hard to develop new engines, the performance and stability have always been difficult to satisfy the army. And in terms of financial resources, this is even more true. Even the German 4 The cost of building and maintaining the No. 1 tank was a relatively high figure for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Not to mention the Tiger tank that the Germans were secretly designing.

Germany was still very generous towards the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After all, it was the second in command among the Allies. In a private meeting, Hindenburg made it clear that it could transfer the production technology of the No. 4 tank to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire after a period of After some research, I still believe that the simple Panzer 4 tank is not suitable for Austria-Hungary. The reason is very simple. In the eyes of the Germans, tanks of this level will gradually become commonplace in future wars. When encountering difficulties If there is a hard nut to crack, the Tiger and its derivative tanks will naturally compete. So for a medium tank, the Germans emphasize the balance between firepower, defense and mobility.

But the Austro-Hungarian Empire is different. The 30-ton tank is close to the limit of what the Austro-Hungarian Empire can afford technically and economically. In other words, in the foreseeable future, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is unlikely to equip heavier tanks. So. No matter whether the armored forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire encountered medium tanks or heavy tanks, they could only fight with 30-ton tanks. Therefore, the requirements of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were very simple. They did not ask for high mobility or heavy tanks. How balanced the protection is. But at least you can pierce the tank on the other side!

Logically speaking, it would be enough for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to produce tank destroyers, but in fact this kind of defensive expertise and relatively miserable offense cannot replace the role of tanks in the armored forces. The armored forces themselves must be brave. As a result, the Austro-Hungarian Empire decided to start over again and build a tank that suited the needs of the Austro-Hungarian troops. Before that, the Austro-Hungarian Empire could only use the German Panzer III tanks and their Derivatives plus a small number of Panzer IV tanks to tide over this transition period.

So far, the drawing settings of this tank have been completed. The layout adopted is a relatively rare power front layout. There is a huge turret in the middle and rear of the body. It can accommodate larger caliber artillery. Considering this This layout may have some problems in terms of heat dissipation. Therefore, its power is not high and its maneuverability is relatively poor. But as a compensation, in addition to its powerful firepower, its frontal protection can be described as good. The front side of the car body The internal protection is also good. However, the defense of the rear part and the rear and lower part of the car body can only be described as poor. This tank, named Fritz, became the future standard tank of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As for whether the design was successful .Then we can only leave it to war to test.

The most important difference between the armored forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany, apart from the different composition of tanks, is that the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not have enough financial resources to equip the tanks with various auxiliary tanks. This situation is much worse than that of the Soviet Union and Germany in history.

People can equip tanks with infantry fighting vehicles and half-track transport vehicles to carry infantry. Although the Soviet Union uses tanks to transport personnel, it can at least make up enough isu and su to support the battlefield. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is a bit worse. Not only does it not have

The plan was to equip tanks with infantry fighting vehicles, and even the number of support vehicles was relatively sparse. Therefore, in the eyes of the Germans, the composition of the armored forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was very deformed.

As for the issue of support firepower? In terms of national strength, the Austro-Hungarian Empire in this dimension is far inferior to the Soviet Union in history, so their support firepower can only be based on mortars and howitzers. Only in this way can the best possible outcome be ensured.

Regarding the basic firepower projection, some people may ask, what to do if the opponent's long-range artillery is suppressed. Then there are only two answers. One is to use a larger-caliber howitzer with a longer range to suppress the opponent's smaller-caliber cannon. The other answer is

I feel like I want to find a way to move the position or make the artillery bunker stronger! If this unit is lucky, it can be equipped with some 105mm cannons. However, it is difficult to compare the range of this thing with long-range artillery, but it is better to hit tanks.

smoothly.

In the direction of small arms, the Austro-Hungarian soldiers were very satisfied with the Mannlicher rifle in their hands. As a straight-pull rifle, the rate of fire of this rifle is quite good. It can compete with the Lee-Enfield rifle in terms of rate of fire.

. Considering the problem of close combat, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also equipped with submachine guns. It can be regarded as the Austro-Hungarian version of MP44. As for machine guns, the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not use the German mg series machine guns but the famous Czech type in history.

machine gun.

"Although our country's national and military strength has made great progress in the more than ten years since the end of World War I, we still cannot compare with the world's top army powers, and even compared with France, we have a huge

We have a sufficient number of soldiers, but we do not have the weapons and funds to arm this force. Especially in terms of logistics, there is a huge gap between us and our opponents. So far, our mode of transportation is still by mules.

Horses are the main force. This kind of logistics supply method greatly limits the length of the front and is more susceptible to the influence of the environment. This situation is not obvious when fighting in Europe and North Africa, but if you want to invest your strength in a distant place,

In the Middle East, many problems may arise."

"The Germans' land transportation capacity is not that abundant. There is almost no direct railway connection between Iran and Turkey, only roads. So it may be very difficult for German cars to help us solve the transportation problem. So in order

To ensure that our forces in the Middle East are not overwhelmed by fragile logistics. We must limit the size of the force. According to the Army's calculations, we should not send more than 100,000 troops to the Middle East," Schrager said.

"One hundred thousand people? This number is a bit small? Can the combat effectiveness be guaranteed?" Ferdinand said hesitantly. There was a big gap between this number and the estimate in his mind.

"In Iran, except for some key points, it is impossible for both sides to build a continuous system of trenches and fortifications similar to those on the European battlefield. Because Iran is too large and the troops invested by both sides are relatively small. The fighting method of both sides will be

Mobile warfare is the main focus. A small number of highly mobile troops can play a greater role, but in order to ensure mobility, a large number of transport vehicles are needed to provide supplies, and heavy weapons must also be self-propelled, and at the end they must be equipped with sufficient traction

Vehicles. We need to provide various vehicles for the Middle East Expeditionary Force that are many times more than the normal amount. And considering the losses during ocean transportation, we have to make a certain margin. Simply to allow this army to have sufficient mobility and

In terms of firepower, we have to draw equipment from other troops. A mechanized force of 100,000 people is almost our current limit," Schrager said.

In the minds of the senior leaders of the Austro-Hungarian Army, this war was to change the outside world's perception of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's backward equipment and poor mobility. In the eyes of other powers, the Austro-Hungarian Army was just a stupid bear. Although there were many troops,

The reaction was slow and the combat effectiveness was low. When they were defending in the trenches, they were quite effective, but when they left the trenches to launch an attack, the Austro-Hungarian Army's poor logistical support and various equipment were their second biggest enemy.

In this operation, the Austro-Hungarian Army used new equipment as uniformly as possible, and equipped the troops with as many supply and transport vehicles as possible. It also learned from the advanced experience of the Germans and established a wartime system.

Logistics support system. In addition, as a former comrade of Schrager, Major General Hube, who participated in the Italian Civil War, will serve as his chief of staff in order to improve the mobile combat capabilities of the Austro-Hungarian Army.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire cleaned up some of its assets and finally came up with a decent army and navy, Germany and Austria began to negotiate on cooperation issues between the two sides. The Germans were very complicated about this ally who was rushing to take advantage of it.

, on the one hand, Germany knows that after Austria-Hungary joins, it will definitely share some of its interests with Turkey. But on the other hand, it is difficult for the Germans to refuse this suggestion. The combat effectiveness of the Turks is really worrying, and Germany is indeed not that abundant. In

After being entangled, the Germans agreed to the Austro-Hungarian Empire stationed in the German military bases in the Mesopotamia, but whether they should be allowed to go into battle depends on the situation. If Germany and Turkey can solve the problem on their own, there will naturally be no need for Austria-Hungary. If not,

If so, let the Austro-Hungarian Army serve as a reserve force.
Chapter completed!